By giving up this world physically we cannot become pure in thought, word and deed all of a sudden. First let us avoid bad actions, and then bad thoughts, though the second is more difficult than the first. It is easier to give up a bad habit than a bad thought. The greatest difficulty lies in attaining purity of thought. This is the case so long as we remain on the plane of relative morality in which both good and evil are relatives - but we try to avoid the evil and bring in the good. Owing to old tendencies and impressions, the evil wants to slip in and sometimes succeeds in coming in. With an effort of the will, we have got to replace it by good thoughts. This tug-of-war is inevitable in every case. Only, as we advance, the struggle becomes subtler and subtler, and having risen above the plane of gross and crude forms of good and evil, we have to deal with their subtler forms.

The company of bad friends may be given up very easily. We may easily avoid worldly company and worldly talk, but the internal company of our former worldly friends and impure thoughts connected with them is far more difficult to shake off and far more troublesome. What is to be done then? This inner company of our discarded friends is more dangerous than the actual external company. First of all, cut yourself away resolutely from all old associations and avoid getting fresh stimuli from the external world. Then do some self-analysis. Find out the ways in which old memories occur in your mind. Through relentless discrimination detach yourself from old images. Constantly give powerful suggestions to your mind and convince it of the wretchedness of the life of attachment and hatred. Go on removing all the old dirt and be careful not accumulate fresh dirt. Gradually you will find your mind becoming clearer and stronger.

During all these struggles both on gross and subtler planes we should try to dwell on the holy thought (i.e the name and form of our Chosen Deity - Ishta Mantra) as much as possible and thus drive away the unholy ones. But sometimes the imagination grows morbid and unholy pictures become very vivid in spite of ourselves. In such a case, while repeating the holy mantra we should take the position of a witness or a spectator towards the evil thoughts and detach ourselves from their tangle. During the moments of forgetfulness we may identify ourselves with evil thoughts and feel affected both mentally and physically, but without doing any bad action. However, as we become more and more watchful and practise non-identification, we can keep them at a distance even before they make their appearance before us.